News That Matter: Labor Struggle + Puerto Rico
It seems like every week, or basically every day, there is an overwhelming number of disasters, crises, and rebellions to keep track of. This aggregation of news should serve as a way in keeping some focus on the stories that are most important right now. Think of it as NPR, but without all the liberal hand-wringing to hear “both sides” at every turn. And this is also a way of getting us to read more progressive sources anyway.
The first story worth highlighting is the recent number of strikes in October. Many of these strikes are being led by union workers who are frustrated by increasing working hours, and less protections for them. They range from workers in the Kellogg's industry to those who work on Hollywood sets, who also work grueling shifts that last from dawn to dusk basically.
This is an article at The Guardian that discusses the bigger picture of the strikes:
Also, this is an episode of the Jacobin podcast, The Dig, that also examines the recent strikes.
Now, the next story to keep track of has been the subjugation of Puerto Rico. For generations, the Puerto Rican people have suffered at the hands of U.S. capitalist interests, including more recently, the interests of private energy companies who would like to take advantage of the recent storm disasters to turn a profit at the expense of a progressive economy, and one that isn’t destroying the island further.
The following is a link from Democracy Now that one of our comrades shared on our Band:
Finally, an overlooked story has been the continued U.S. assault on Venezuela, which now includes the arrest of a Venezuelan diplomat, as explained here,
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/10/19/saab-o19.html
The U.S. war on Venezuela and Cuba has been an ongoing campaign to crush opposition to its rule, whether led by Republicans like Trump or now by Biden, who has continued on many of Trump’s international policies.
